The Stop Button

blogging by Andrew Wickliffe

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Category: Sin City

  • Dark Horse Presents 62 (May 1992)

    Maybe what Miller needs for Sin City is a full issue. This issue, dedicated to Marv finishing up all the villains–I wonder if Miller intentionally gave his psychotic cannibal a harmless name like Kevin or if there’s some backstory to it–and getting executed, is nearly reasonable. The opening is a disaster, with lots of the…

  • Dark Horse Presents 61 (April 1992)

    Sin City has gotten useless to the point I’m not even sure I should talk about it. It’s sort of interesting in regards to Miller’s terrible plotting. One might think he’d adapt Chandler or even Hammett, just amping it up, but he doesn’t. He figures out his own “hard boiled” structure and it’s awful. I…

  • Dark Horse Presents 60 (March 1992)

    Oh, lucky me, Sin City isn’t over yet. Instead, Miller spends most of his pages with one image, a lot of white space and even more terrible narration. I think I hate this entry the most. Not sure if it’s because I’m subjected to more of Miller’s writing or if it’s because I thought I…

  • Dark Horse Presents 59 (February 1992)

    Wow, I really don’t know what’s the best thing in the issue. Geary’s one page entry is a failure. It’s his solid art, but the writing doesn’t work here. It’s just too much forced sentiment. Alien Fire seemingly comes to an end this issue–some very nice space frog art from Vincent–but Smith’s writing is just…

  • Dark Horse Presents 58 (January 1992)

    Well, the first installment of Alien Fire might have been good but this one is not. It’s apparently some sci-fi thing about a car and Native Americans and homophobes. Or something along those lines. It’s got a lot of quirky details, which Vincent draws well enough, but it’s useless. The Creep finishes (hopefully not for…

  • Dark Horse Presents 57 (December 1991)

    Not much to recommend Next Men this time. Byrne handles his violent action sequence well, but he’s also selling a U.S. senator killing a federal agent. Who knows, maybe it’s all a Tea Party thing. Regardless, no longer interested in the series. The Creep is, again, excellent. I can’t believe Arcudi’s writing it. And Eaglesham’s…

  • Dark Horse Presents 56 (November 1991)

    This oversized issue opens and closes with an Aliens two-parter. Loose art from Guinan and Akins doesn’t help Arcudi’s script. It’s absolutely incomprehensible if you don’t read the Aliens series. Byrne finally produces a Next Men I’m not interested in. It’s two government guys revealing all. The art’s really, really mediocre. It’s like even Byrne…

  • Dark Horse Presents 55 (October 1991)

    Sin City is really bad this time. The amount of white space suggests Miller didn’t spend a lot of time drawing it. It also doesn’t seem like he spent much time writing it. Even with his terrible narration, this installment is a new low. Though I guess some of it does sound a lot like…

  • Dark Horse Presents 54 (September 1991)

    The big surprise this issue is Byrne’s Next Men. It’s actually pretty solid (though I think it features all four Byrne faces). The art’s great–nice flow of action–and the story’s intriguing. I think it’s the strongest narrative structure I’ve ever read from Byrne (though it might just be because it’s a prologue). Geary’s got a…

  • Dark Horse Presents 53 (August 1991)

    It turns out all I need to like Homicide is a good artist. I think Arcudi fashioned the story to fit Morrow’s sensibilities, but it’s easily the best dialogue Arcudi’s written on the series. Morrow really shows how important an artist is in making a mediocre (at best) script work. Geary’s got a single page…

  • Dark Horse Presents 52 (July 1991)

    The Bacchus story is a really upsetting story of Simpson, Bacchus’s sidekick, and his journey through hell. I’m not up on my Dante, but it seems like it follows Inferno a little bit. It’s a good story, but it’s a real downer and very different from the other Bacchus entries so far. The Heartbreakers story…

  • Dark Horse Presents 51 (June 1991)

    I’m having trouble figuring out the big deal with Sin City. I mean, it looks cool and all, but isn’t Marv on the run from the cops a lot like that issue of “Batman: Year One” with the Batman running from the cops. The narration’s overbearing and all… but it’s fine as a stupid diversion.…

  • Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special (April 1991)

    This special is far from an accurate representation of Dark Horse Presents. Everything looks very professional. The Aerialist and Heartbreakers installments are both long needed establishments of the series’ ground situation. I even liked the Heartbreakers one (Bennett’s writing is far stronger from the clones’ perspective, versus their creator). There’s also lots of disposable stuff–Concrete,…

  • Sin City (2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez), the extended version

    Sin City (2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez), the extended version

    Exasperatingly over-stylized adaptation of the Frank Miller comic has a bunch of good performances and a bunch of bad ones. The three stories–which are cut together in the regular version, separate in this extended version–range in quality big-time. As “Hard R” film noir… it comes off more like PULP FICTION with CW Network actors. Clive…